In the Shadows
by Please Delete No Longer In Use
Summary: The Shadow King is here. Heroes and villains alike must join together in order to defeat him, but can they put aside their differences long enough to do so?
1. Chapter 1

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW SO I HAVE INSPIRATION TO CONTINUE MY STORY.**

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**X-MEN: EVOLUTION: IN THE SHADOWS**

**Chapter 1**

Lance Alvers was staring into nothingness. He was sitting in Room 12 at Bayville High School, the science lab. Miss Hart was explaining how gravity works, and he was bored out of his brain.

"…and many things are _streamlined _to avoid air resistance. Gravity—" Miss Hart stopped abruptly and turned to face Lance. "Lance Alvers, are you listening?"

Lance sat up quickly, and opened his textbook to a random page. "Yes, miss."

Miss Hart sighed and started to massage her temples with one hand. "What are we talking about then, Alvers?"

"Er…" Lance scanned the page in front of them, hoping against all hopes that it might be the page that the rest of the class were on. "Molecules, miss. And……er…"

Miss Hart strode up to his desk and slammed the textbook shut. "Get out, Alvers," she ordered.

Lance threw his bag over his shoulder and left the room.

"Oh, great!" he moaned as he slumped down on the bench in the playing field. "What am I going to do? I'll never live it down if I go home. Toad and Blob would never stop laughin' and Pietro would kill me!"

Everyone at the Brotherhood house knew that the only reason Lance EVER went to school was because his heartthrob, Kitty Pryde, would be there. Today, however, Lance had gone to school and Kitty _wasn't _there.

"**_She's ill,"_ **Lance said angrily in a squeaky voice, imitating Jean Grey. "Ah, I'm done with school!"

"Now that's not the attitude, is it mon frer?"

"What?!" Lance cried in surprise. He jumped up and swivelled round.

A man wearing a long, torn brown jacket and silver boots was crouched on the bench. He had a small, neatly cut beard and his brown hair was cut short.

"Name's Gambit," he said as he flipped back off the bench. "You're Alvers, right?"

His voice was slightly accented.

French, maybe? Lance thought. "Who sent you?" he demanded angrily.

"You don't need to know that at the moment, Lance," Gambit calmly replied.

Lance gritted his teeth in agitation, and clenched his hands into fists. "I'm a lot tougher than I look."

Gambit grinned roguishly. "If you say so."

He reached into his jacket and withdrew three playing cards. They were suddenly a tiny inferno, with fiery energy dancing around them. Gambit flipped back, hurling the cards at Lance as he did so. Alvers rolled away as the cards collapsed the bench he had been sitting on with a muffled explosion.

"That all you can do?" Lance growled, slamming his fist to the grass.

Gambit cursed as the ground rolled away from beneath him, but he bounded away before he could fall. Lance laughed mockingly, but cried out in surprise when an explosive card blasted him to the ground. He struggled to his feet, but Gambit had already snapped out a long, gleaming staff that he used to knock the young mutant's feet from beneath him.

"Tsk tsk, Lance." Gambit rested the end of his staff gently on Lance's neck. "You'll have to do better than that if you wanna join Magneto's group."

"What?!" Lance said incredulously. "Magneto wants me in his Acolytes?"

Gambit nodded. "Sure."

Lance started to answer when Gambit was suddenly hurled away by an invisible hand. Lance staggered to his feet to observe his rescuer, a redheaded girl that was beautiful and dashing, sprinting towards the confused Gambit.

"I'm not a big fan of Lance Alvers myself," the girl called, "but I won't let you kill him!"

"Ah, the legendary, and, if I may say so, very beautiful, Jean Grey." The obviously well practiced words seemed to roll off Gambit's tongue.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Jean said, levitating him into the air and throwing him helplessly up. He grunted in pain as he landed, hard, on his stomach.

He somehow gathered the strength to somersault backwards, assaulting Jean with his energy-charged cards at the same time. Jean caught them with her telekinesis and sent them right back at Gambit, who was blown away by his own weapons. Jean smiled gleefully and then rose gracefully into the air, manipulating another bench and a bin into following her. Gambit grinned and stood, snatching up his staff and moving it into a defensive position across his chest. Jean suddenly sprung her right hand forward, sending the bin flying at Gambit, who charged his staff with an unnerving fluidness and sent two blasts of energy up, punching the two projectiles from the air. A third shot sent Jean spiralling to the ground.

Gambit smiled devilishly and pounced forward, spearing his staff at her. She rolled away and the charged metal stick bit deep into the ground. Gambit wrenched it out, but Jean used this time to form a telekinetic bubble around it, crushing the energy into death. Gambit bounced forward, but Jean was already zooming up into the air, and Gambit's swing missed. She took the staff from his hands with her powers and it came to her. Gambit bent his knees, ready to jump, but a loud, shrill sound split the air in the playing field.

The breaktime bell.

Jean tossed the staff away and dropped to the floor as Gambit caught his weapon and sprinted out of sight. Lance looked around in bewilderment as a crowd formed around him, the black gaping hole in the ground and the wreckage of two benches and a bin attracting them. He glanced around. Jean was gone. The gathered students parted as a tall, thin man with large glasses and a suit on strode towards Lance.

"What the hell happened here?" Principal Kelly shouted at the top of his voice. Lance reddened and started to stutter some unbelievable explanation about how the wind had smashed the benches and bin to pieces and that all the damage had torn a hole in the grass. In the background, he saw a redhead strolling away from the scene, giggling mischievously.

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When Jean arrived home that night with the lean, brown-haired Scott Summers, Professor Xavier was waiting for her in the foyer of the mansion.

"Jean, Scott," he greeted. "After Danger Room training, I'd like to see both of you about a special assignment to do with Jean's opponent today." He sent a scolding look at Jean, who shrugged innocently. The two teenagers dressed in their uniforms and joined the others, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Spyke and Rogue the vast chamber that was the Danger Room.

"Okay, everyone," Xavier's voice called out through speakers. "Today's exercise will be about teamwork. You will have to collect four special serums. You will split into pairs and watch each other's backs to get three of them, then you will regroup in the centre and protect one person of your choice while they get the final serum. You will have five minutes exactly for each task. Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, you will get the first serum."

Fifteen-year old Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat, and blue-skinned Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, jumped forward, and the other four stepped back. A large, cylindrical platform rose up at the back of the room, and weapons towered over the duo.

"Easy-squeasy!" Nightcrawler chuckled, his German-accented voice carrying throughout the room. The weapons fired.

Lasers peppered the room, chipping away at Kitty and Kurt. Kurt teleported to the platform holding the serum, but was blocked by an electrical forcefield that sent him flying back. Smoke rose from his body as he clambered to his feet and sprung away from the guns using his acrobatic prowess and strong tail. Shadowcat turned intangible and slipped into the floor, coming up beside Nightcrawler and turning him intangible as well.

"Let's hurry this up, Nightcrawler," she called.

Nightcrawler winked and teleported them both away, onto the top of one of the laser guns. They lingered there for a matter of seconds, until the rest of the guns got a lock on them, then they dashed away, leaving the lasers to vaporize their fellow defence weapon. As they were falling, Nightcrawler teleported again to the platform, and Shadowcat phased them through the forcefield. She rolled onto the elevated podium and grabbed the serum.

"Got it!" she cried proudly. "Let's get out of here!"

Her glee was cut short as a laser blast slammed into her at full power. She was thrown backwards. The serum was released from her hand and flew uncontrolled into the air…only to be caught by Nightcrawler at the last moment. He teleported up to Kitty and gathered her hastily into his arms. He teleported onto another gun, only to be snatched up by a large grappler suspended by a long metal tube. He dropped the serum, and it was grabbed by another grappler which placed it safely back on the podium.

The German mutant watched hopefully as Shadowcat stirred in her unconsciousness, but he was abruptly swivelled round by the grappler to stare down the very large barrel of a laser gun. He started to gasp, but didn't have a chance to finish it as Shadowcat appeared from nowhere and phased them both through the grappler just as a laser bit through the space that Kurt had just been in. They landed on the metal floor softly, and sprinted towards the podium. Laserfire splattered on the ground all around them, and they skidded to a halt. Suddenly the floor beneath them propelled them upwards at a dizzying speed towards the ceiling, threatening to crush them. Shadowcat rolled off and clunked, dazed, to the floor. But Nightcrawler didn't escape. There was a loud _thump _as the floor hit the ceiling. Kitty winced. The rest of the group gasped in shock as one. The Danger Room safety protocols weren't on, which meant Kurt was dead. There was a deathly silence.

It was broken by a _bamf _and Nightcrawler appeared from his smoky portal and hauled Shadowcat to her feet.

"Are we getting out of here, or what, Kitty?" he laughed.

Kitty smiled weakly, and Kurt teleported them onto the platform. Kitty phased them through the field and clenched the serum close to her chest.

"Do it!" she called.

Nightcrawler teleported them away from the platform and onto the tube of one of the grapplers. They needed a distraction to get them away safely. The guns fired just as Nightcrawler and Shadowcat dived away. The blasts cut through the tube. It tumbled down towards Kitty and Kurt. It hit them. They both cried out in pain and surprise.

"Kurt," Kitty rasped. "We're not gonna get the serum back."

Kurt grabbed Kitty's hand and smiled feebly. "We can do anything, Kitty."

There was a familiar _bamf_, and the two mutants appeared in front of Xavier, wounded and winded. They passed him the serum, their hands still clenched together.

"Well done, you two," Xavier said.

They thanked him with a nod, and stumbled back down to the waiting area of the Danger Room.


	2. Chapter 2

**PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!**

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**Chapter 2**

Lance sank down into the battered sofa at the Brotherhood house. Toad, with his over-sized jeans, dirty jumper and t-shirt and off-coloured hair that draped over his shoulders, was swiping at flies with his green slobbery tongue and leaping around the room like the animal he was code-named after.

"Stop it, Toad," Lance yelled. "I'm not in the mood."

Pietro Maximof, a tall, young man with snow-white hair that was neatly styled, whizzed into the room at super-speed.

"Did you get your kitty-cat out of the tree?" he teased.

"She wasn't there," Lance replied, although his mind was clearly elsewhere. "There was another _visitor _at school though. With an interesting proposal."

"I betcha wish it was Kitty that was doing the proposin'," Toad called across his tongue.

Pietro laughed loudly, and his voice was joined by a deep rumbling that sounded like thunder. The unbelievably huge Blob squashed himself into the room and threw himself on the sofa, sending Lance flying off and crushing the chair.

"So what was this proposal, Lance?" Blob thundered.

"Magneto wants me to join his Acolytes," Lance said proudly.

Blob, Toad, and Pietro cried "WHAT?" as one.

"What about us?" spat Toad.

"That's unfair!" sulked Blob.

"Why would he want _you _and not _me_, his own son?" Pietro screamed.

Lance grinned and jogged upstairs to his room, where he grabbed a bag and started throwing his possessions into it. Toad, Blob and Pietro were suddenly beside him, cries of protest and outrage announcing their presence. Lance ignored them and zipped up the bag. He tossed it over his shoulder.

"See ya," he called as he slid out of the front door. The other three were too shocked to follow him.

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Gambit and another Acolyte, a small, red-haired boy code-named Pyro for his fire-manipulating abilities, were crouched in the tall tree outside the Brotherhood house.

"Ugh," Pyro groaned, adjusting the miniature flamethrowers fitted to his forearms. "I don't know why Magneto even gave these to me, 'cos I'm never gonna use them."

A sharp kick to the ribs from Gambit sent him falling from the crook of a branch he had been crouched in.

"Stop moaning, kid," Gambit reprimanded. "Leave now if you're gonna be childish all night."

Pyro started to snap something back, but there was a muffled bang and they both turned to see Lance walking away from the house with a bag hanging from his shoulder. Gambit smiled, and dropped from his branch. Pyro rose and they met Lance at the gate of the house.

"Gambit," Lance greeted. "Glad you're here. I've decided to accept Magneto's offer. Who's your friend?"

Pyro squared his shoulders and spurted a thin streak of fire into a horse shape from his flamethrower to show off. "I'm Pyro."

"The idiot of the group," Gambit added.

"Hey!" Pyro said furiously.

"So, where's Magneto, then?" Lance asked.

"Follow me," Gambit said, and began to walk away.

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After the Danger Room session, while Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Spyke and Rogue went to their rooms and changed, Scott and Jean joined Xavier in his office.

"Jean, I think you already know my feelings on your little fight today," Xavier began, "but I don't have anytime to punish you now. After your assignment, I'll make sure you know my exact feelings on public fights, and Logan's, and Ororo's, but right now you're needed in Africa."

"Africa?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Xavier answered thoughtfully. "An old foe of mine has returned…and he must be stopped."

"Who is this old foe, Professor?" Jean questioned. "And what is he doing in Africa?"

"Trying to take control, Jean. Many years ago, when I could still walk, I went to Africa on vacation. Whilst talking with Magneto, whom I met there, a young girl stole my wallet. Magnus and I followed her back to a small hut. There she gave the wallet to someone she addressed as 'your majesty'."

Jean leaned back in her chair. "What happened then?"

Xavier hit a button on his desk and then said, "The young thief can tell you that."

The door to the office was blown open by an incredible gust of wind, and the uniformed Storm stepped in.

"Storm?" Scott cried in surprise.

"Yes, I was the pickpocket." The white-haired weather witch smiled. "But 'his majesty' was much more powerful than you know." She unpinned her velvet cloak and hung it on a coat hook, then seated herself next to Xavier. "He was a very powerful mutant known as…the Shadow King."

Xavier nodded. "He had the power to transfer his mind to other people, in effect brainwashing them. But he could control the weather as well, as long as it was the conditions around him. He was also a strong telepath, the third most powerful in the world after I and another."

Jean quickly asked, "So what happened to him?"

Storm answered. "Well, Charles and Magneto immediately sensed the Shadow King's power and potential, and tried to negotiate with him. But he struck them down with an incredible blast of heat. That was when I realised that he was doing wrong, and attacked him with my powers. He transferred his mind to me and used my powers, as well as his, to cripple Charles and mortally injure Magneto."

"So it was the Shadow King that put you in a wheelchair?" Scott said. "I always thought it was Magneto."

"It was the Shadow King alright, Scott…I remember that day well." Xavier's eyes fluttered closed, as if he was mentally picturing the scene. "I attacked him with psychic blasts and disabled him. He started to talk, but Magnus used all his strength and attacked the Shadow King's body with all his might. The King quickly returned to his own body. Storm ran, and I could only watch helplessly as Magnus blasted the King into death."

"But if he died, how is he alive now?" Jean enquired.

"He revived his body years ago, before you and Scott were here, but I went with Wolverine and destroyed the body before he could do any damage," Storm replied. "Now, he is inhabiting another body. Only this one is much more powerful than his own…" she continued.

"Who?" Scott said.

"It's someone very dear to me, Scott," Storm answered. "It's my…it's my son."

"Your son?!" Jean and Cyclops cried in unison.

"Not my real son, but my friends' son," Storm said. "But she was extremely ill and close to death after his birth, so while she was recuperating I took care of him. His name was Mijnari. He was a mutant, like myself, and he had the power of hypersonics. I looked after him until he was fifteen. Then his mother was better, and he returned to her care."

Jean frowned. "What's hypersonics?"

Xavier opened his eyes again and steepled his fingers. "Hypersonics are sounds that are almost impossibly high-pitched. They can render anyone unconscious in a matter of milliseconds."

"Apart from that, they can drive you insane, deafen you for life, dampen all your five senses or wreck all five, and, in a worst case scenario, kill you," Storm continued.

"Nasty," Scott said, slipping off his shades and replacing them with his visor. "When do we leave?"

"Tonight, six o'clock. I'll be waiting in the hangar bay." Storm scowled as Scott and Jean left the room. "It doesn't feel right taking only Cyclops and Jean, Professor. The others could be of great use."

"They're not ready yet, Ororo," Xavier said, placing his hand reassuringly on Storm's shoulder.

"Neither are those two," Storm shot back. "Maybe you and I should go alone, without any students. We could call Logan back from his mission."

"Logan's mission against Sabretooth is too important, and you and I will never be a match for the Shadow King alone." Xavier squeezed Storm's hand with his own. "At least with Scott and Jean we'll have a chance, no matter how remote."

Storm kissed Xavier lightly on the cheek, then rose and retrieved her cloak. "I hope you're right Charles. I really do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Erik Magnus Lenscherr, alias Magneto, sat silently in his bedchamber, fiddling with his blazing red helmet. There was a shrill squeak of sound, indicating that someone was at the door.

"Come," Magneto called.

The door hissed open and Lance Alvers, Avalanche, stepped in, quickly executing a low bow. "Magneto, sir," he said. "It's great to be with you and your Acolytes. These guys really get things done, unlike the Brotherhood."

Magneto nodded slowly. "Yes, Avalanche, we do get things done. Which is why you're here, actually."

Avalanche frowned. "What do you mean by that, sir?"

"What I mean, Avalanche, is that you're just a tool that I am using to achieve a greater goal. Myself and the Acolytes, however, are the people that use the tools," Magneto said, a cold smile on his face.

"What? What's going on?" Avalanche stuttered.

He started to turn away, but the huge metal man code-named Colossus was blocking the doorway. Colossus was Magneto's bodyguard, and he had the power to cover his body with a strong organic steel. The powerful mutant slammed Avalanche back into a wall with a punch that knocked the younger mutant unconscious.

Magneto smiled and called, "Mesmero? We're ready."

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The Blackbird SR-77 jet lowered its landing legs and began the landing sequence. In the cockpit, Jean stood with Storm at the ramp while Scott lowered the jet. When it came to a halt on the muddy ground, Storm strode down the ramp with a gleam of defiance in her eyes. Cyclops and Jean followed close behind. Storm led them to a small wooden hut in the middle of the village. The hut, and most of the village, was literally falling to pieces. There were scorch marks and unconscious or dead bodies everywhere. People's cries of distress were common, but the loudest sobs were coming from inside this hut. Storm motioned them to stop here, then stepped cautiously inside.

"Jara," she cried in sympathy, and rushed forward.

A mid-thirties woman with short-cut black hair and only two small rags for clothes was huddled on the crumbles of a fireplace, dust making her black as the coal that had once been there. Her screaming and weeping was uncontrollable, and Storm was moved almost to tears as she gathered the woman close to her in a tight hug.

"Oh Jara," Storm whispered. "What has he done to you?"

The woman looked slowly up, and croaked, "I can't hear you. He's deafened me, Goddess. It's fortunate that you taught me lip-reading all those years ago."

Storm felt the tears stream down her face and drip onto her uniform. "Just remember that it wasn't your son, Mijnari. Remember that it was his body, but not his mind. Remember that it was the Shadow King."

Jara gazed up into her friend's eyes, and Storm noticed that the former emerald green that had once gleamed there had now been dulled to the colour of downtrodden grass.

"My mind tells me that, Goddess, but my heart says otherwise." Jara sniffed sadly. "My heart tells me that he isn't fighting the Shadow King, that he wants it to control him, that he's doing all this to get revenge for all the years I wasn't there to guide him."

Storm pulled Jara even closer. "That wasn't your fault, Jara. You were ill."

"Don't make excuses, Goddess," Jara snapped. "I could've looked after him."

"It would've been the same as killing yourself," Storm shot back. "He _is _fighting the Shadow King, and he's doing it right now."

Jara pulled away and locked Storm's gaze to her own. "How do you know?"

A new voice from the door answered, "Because Jean and I are helping him right now."

Storm turned to see Xavier and Jean stepping inside. Jean dropped to her knees beside Jara.

"Hello," she began. "I'm Jean, and this is Professor Xavier. We're here to help your son. But before we can do that, we must know where the Shadow King transferred his mind to Mijnari."

Jara nodded. "I can take you there."

Xavier nodded his approval. "Good. Jean and Storm, follow Jara to that site. Cyclops will protect me while I lock onto the King's location. Okay, let's move."

Jara clambered feebly to her feet and led Storm and Jean out of the hut and towards the huge fields that the villagers picked their food from. They journeyed through the field to a vast circle where all the plants had been burned away and the floor was jet black.

"It was here," Jara told them, indicating the circle. "He was playing with his best friend, an English boy called Thomas, when he suddenly collapsed and screamed in pain. Then there was a huge burst of energy from him that caused this black circle."

"Where is this Thomas boy now?" Storm asked.

"The energy blast killed him." Jara looked sad at this.

"STORM!" Jean screamed. "The Shadow King's here! I can feel him!"

Storm's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "Jara, get out of here! Get back and warn Charles and Cyclops!"

Jara turned and ran but the sun in the sky suddenly grew redder and redder. She stopped and gazed fearfully up into the sky. The sun suddenly released a burst of heated energy that shot down from the sky and impacted on Jara. Jean and Storm were blown back by the hit. They stumbled to their feet, and stared sadly and incredulously at the charred ground where Jara had just been.

Then the Shadow King arrived.

Mijnari's body was dark-skinned and handsome. A yellow band was wrapped around his black hair and his eyes were a sparkling blue. He was wearing a red vest and shorts, and he was laughing. But the laugh was without mirth, or even coldness. The laugh was full of malice and hatred. A shiver ran down Jean's spine as he spoke.

"Girls," he called. His voice had not totally broken, and in patches he went squeaky. He seemed just like a normal teenager. "Nice of you to join me."

"Leave Mijnari's body _now_, Shadow King," Storm growled.

"Or what, my young thief?" The words seemed strange coming from Mijnari's mouth.

"Or this!" Jean cried.

She lifted the King up and hurled him into a tree in the orchard twenty metres away. Storm nodded her thanks to Jean as they sprinted forward; the younger woman knew that Ororo would never have been able to be the first to attack her own son. Now Storm used the wind to rise up into the air, and Jean quickly followed as Mijnari —no, the Shadow King, Storm quickly reminded herself — sent off another blast of heat that burned through half the orchard.

Storm clenched her hands into fists and yelled, "It's over, Shadow King. Because you are now about to feel the wrath of…STORM!!!"

A lightning bolt flashed down from Storm's right hand, throwing the King to the ground. Then a twister hurricane swirled menacingly around Storm, enveloping her like some sort of cloak. It struck the King with bone-crushing force, hurling him round and round. But Storm's assaults were abruptly stopped by a screeching more terrible than anything she had ever heard. It seemed to go on for an eternity.

It broke through Storm's mind, stirring up her thoughts and memories, ringing through her ears, echoing through her brain, causing her head to ache unbearably…and then she lost control. Thunder clapped through the sky as lightning spidered down to the ground in sparks of terror. Hurricanes and tornadoes ripped through the land, obliterating everything in sight with a powerful gale. The sand was torn up into large, dusty storms and the mud - - something blasted through Storm's mind and suddenly it was all over.

Storm started to convulse in mid-air, and then she fell to the ground in a daze. Her breathing was erratic and it came out in ragged pants. Jean dropped down beside her.

"I'm so sorry, Storm," she said. "I'm so sorry. It had to be done."

Storm clutched Jean's hands. "What did you do?" she rasped. As soon as she asked it, she knew the answer. "The pain that shot through my mind. You used your psychic blast to stop me."

Jean nodded weakly. "And used up most of my strength in it, as well."

Storm managed to stand, relying on Jean to hold her. "What happened to the Shadow King?"

"He escaped, but we can't worry about that right now," Jean answered. "We must get back to the village and help any casualties."

As Jean flew them back to the village, Storm reflected on the fight where the hypersonics had made her lose control.

_What have I done? _she thought anxiously.


	4. Chapter 4

**IF ANYONE IS READING THIS STORY, THEN REVIEW OR I'LL STOP WRITING THIS STORY!!!**

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Chapter 4

Lance awoke to poison gas drifting up his nostrils. He struggled against the restraints binding his wrists together. Realising that he had no bonds on his feet, he jumped up and squinted through the misty gas for a door. Seeing none, he held his breath and placed his hands flat on the wall in front of him. He concentrated, and there was a large rumble as the wall shook with the force of an eight earthquake on the Richter scale. The wall split immediately, and Lance dashed out, racing down the dull, drab corridor outside. He ran as fast as he could, and eventually his legs began to ache. He reached a section with three small corridors leading off, one straight ahead, and one to each side. He chose the centre one. It led to a tall, metal door. It slid aside as he neared it and he stepped inside without a thought. The door hissed closed. He looked around the room he was now in. It was a large, circular chamber with a large computer at one end and lockers, cabinets, and drawers around the edges. In the centre of the room, between the door and the computer were five pods. There were two on each side, and one in the middle of those four. Lance watched as the pods slid open, and the five members of the Acolytes stepped out from them.

The first to do so was the savage brute Sabretooth, then Pyro, then Gambit, then Colossus and finally Magneto.

"We anticipated your escape, Lance," Magneto said. "So we laid in wait for you."

Lance gritted his teeth. "What did you do to me, you psycho?"

"As I said, Lance, you are a tool," Magneto replied calmly. "And you have been used to the fullest extent. Now you will be disposed of. Acolytes – kill him."

Lance stepped back into the door. He knew that Magneto had him in a perfect trap – both choices would end in death. He could stay and be killed by the Acolytes, or go back into the corridor and be killed by the poison gas.

"Bring it on, Acolytes," Lance snarled. "You're about to learn why they call me Avalanche."

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Jean used her telekinesis to lift up a burning wooden plank off a screaming woman and her child. She let Storm put out the fire with rain, then dropped it and Cyclops stepped in and scooped the two people up in his arms. He laid them into Storm's arms, who rose into the air and took them back to the Blackbird jet, where Xavier was running a small hospital in the plane's medical bay.

"Uhh," Jean sighed in exhaustion. "It's been a long day."

"I think it has been for Storm too," Cyclops said, wrapping his arm round Jean's shoulders. "She's keeping all her emotions bottled up. That won't do any good."

"No," Jean said, resting her head on Cyclops' shoulder. "They'll just boil up inside her until they become too much and she loses control again. I should know – it happened to me enough times when I didn't know how to use my powers properly."

"Only with Storm, the consequences will be much greater." Cyclops ran a hand back through his hair. "If that happens, she'll lose confidence in herself and leave the X-Men. We can't let that happen."

Jean pulled away from Cyclops and cast her eyes to the Blackbird, sitting about fifty metres away. Storm was sitting, cross-legged, on the ramp; her eyes were squeezed shut and her body totally still.

"She's meditating," Jean observed. "Trying to calm herself. She's in emotional turmoil, though. She's hiding it well, but not well enough to conceal it from a telepath."

"Maybe we should try and get through to her," Cyclops suggested.

"Yeah. I'll try first," Jean said, and started forward.

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Wolverine squeezed himself through the air vent and pulled the entry hatch closed. He had followed Sabretooth back to the Acolytes' hideout and successfully infiltrated it. He had checked all the rooms and photographed all the major blueprints and plans. But there was some commotion going on the only room he had not yet visited – the control room. So that was where he had to go. He slipped along the vent until he reached a metal grate. Popping out his adamantium claws, Wolverine slashed through the grate as quietly as possible and stared down through into the chamber. Avalanche was fighting all the Acolytes except from Magneto, who was watching from the computer with a cold, calculating smile spread across his face. Wolverine glanced back down to Avalanche, who was currently being slammed to the floor by the towering metal mutant Colossus.

"Don't worry, kid," Wolverine whispered. "I'll take out Magneto, then get you out o' this jam."

He flipped down into the room, slashing at the unsuspecting Magneto. The refined metal blades tore their way through Magneto's armour and across his chest. Then Wolverine sent his booted foot up into Magneto's face, splitting his helmet and sending him spinning across the room. Then Wolverine darted across through the four enemies, scooped up Avalanche, and somersaulted back to the computer.

"Bring it on, bubs," Wolverine growled, a wicked grin on his expression. "From what I've seen so far, I think you're improving. You might only just be beaten by a plastic bag this time."

Sabretooth was the first to attack. He slashed downwards, but Wolverine dropped Avalanche, who clambered to his feet and watched in amazement as the X-Man parried with a low-to-high up thrust. Sabretooth slid back and Pyro's flamethrowers belched flame at the Logan. Wolverine rolled to the side and stabbed forward, crashing through and breaking Pyro's flamethrowers. Then he kicked the younger mutant's legs from beneath him.

"Okay, Shorty," Sabretooth hissed. "Time for some rough'n'tumble!" He leapt forward, his claws slashing in a wild frenzy of moves.

Wolverine ducked and came back up on Sabretooth's right, slashing up wards as he did so. Sabretooth couldn't parry, and felt the full, sharp pain of the adamantium claws searing through his chest. Wolverine followed up the move with a knee to the stomach. As Sabretooth was falling, the X-Man grabbed him and held him high above his head. Then he tossed him into Gambit, who was flattened by the older mutant's intense weight.

"I prefer a good game of catch, myself." Wolverine grinned. His cheer was cut off when he was scooped up in thick metal arms and hurled across the room.

Colossus let out a harsh, barking laugh. "So do I!"

Avalanche finally came into the fight. He dropped to one knee and laid his hand on the floor. "These games you like are really boring. Let's play my favourite – _shakedown_!"

A low, deep rumble blasted ominously through the ground beneath them, and there was a loud crack as the floor split beneath Colossus, who tumbled helplessly into impenetrable darkness. Avalanche snapped his hand up, and the ground that Gambit, Sabretooth and Pyro were on exploded upwards, sending them down into the dark abyss with Colossus. Magneto swiftly joined them after a quick throw from Wolverine. Avalanche made another gesture, and the ground slipped closed.

"Good work, kid," Wolverine said. "But whose side are you on? If I come near you, you gonna try to ground me? 'Cos I like to be forewarned. It makes me even more dangerous."

Avalanche shook his head. "I won't hurt you – at least not yet. All I wanna do is get outta here." He turned to the door and started towards it. Wolverine stepped into his path.

"Whoa, kid," Wolverine snapped. "You ain't leaving just yet."

"Why?"

Wolverine sighed, then showed Avalanche his index finger. "One, this poison gas out there that will go up your nostrils, burn its way down your respiratory system, then slowly set your insides on fire." He held up his middle finger. Two, I know you don't know why you were here, and I don't either. So we've still got to find that out." He held up his next finger. "Three, there's still one more bad guy to take care of. Mesmero's lingering round here somewhere. I could smell his rank stench from Japan. I should introduce him to the bath Magneto installed in this place's torture room."

Avalanche frowned. "Magneto put a bath in the torture room?"

Wolverine smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm sure Mesmero would appreciate that acid bath."

--------------------

The Shadow King observed all these events with his telepathic powers, and smiled gleefully. He had successfully sewn distrust, discontent, and lack of self-confidence into the team. Now it was time to strike – and he would strike hard.


End file.
